CLARKSON, William
| Service Number: | 32949 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 5th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Albury, New South Wales, Australia, 1 July 1896 |
| Home Town: | Albury, Albury Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway porter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 29 October 1917, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Albury St. Patrick's Church Memorial Gates, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 11 May 1917: | Involvement Gunner, 32949, Field Artillery Brigades, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 May 1917: | Embarked Gunner, 32949, Field Artillery Brigades, HMAT Shropshire, Melbourne | |
| 29 Oct 1917: | Involvement Gunner, 32949, 5th Field Artillery Brigade , Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 32949 awm_unit: 5th Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1917-10-29 |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
William CLARKSON, (Service Number 32949) was born on 1 July 1896 at Albury. He began working for the NSW Railways as a junior porter in the Junee District on 28 August 1914. He remained in this role for his whole career, though formally he became an adult porter on his 21st birthday, by which time he was serving in Europe. He was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces on 28 September 1916. On his Attestation Papers he gives his age as 21 years and 3 months, though he was in fact a year younger than that. He also stated that he was not married and gave his father as his next of kin. Numerous amendments to his papers confirm a marriage to Vera May subsequent to enlistment.
He left Australia through Melbourne aboard HMAT ‘Shropshire’ on 11 May 1917.
Submitted 1 June 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by John Oakes
William CLARKSON, (Service Number 32949) was born on 1st July 1896 at Albury. He began working for the NSW Railways as a junior porter in the Junee District on 28th August 1914. He was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces on 28th September 1916. On his Attestation Papers he gives his age as 21 years and 3 months, although he was in fact a year younger than that. He also stated that he was not married and gave his father as his next of kin. Numerous amendments to his papers confirm a marriage to Vera May subsequent to enlistment.
He left Australia from Melbourne aboard HMAT ‘Shropshire’ on 11th May 1917. He reached Plymouth (England) on 19th July. In September he went to France from Southampton. He joined the 5th Field Artillery Battery in Belgium on 26th October. He was killed in action three days later on 29th October. He is buried at the Belgian Battery Casualty Clearing Station Cemetery. Australian War Memorial records show the burial place as Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium.
In 1921 there was some doubt as to the location of William Clarkson’s grave. Reports were in hand from a Reverend Perkins reported that he had buried William and Gunner K H Findlay at the same time in the Belgian Battery Casualty Clearing Station Cemetery. Cemetery records showed two adjacent graves, one for Findlay and the other for an unknown British soldier, presumably William Clarkson. It was decided that the unknown soldier was very possibly Clarkson, but as there was an element of doubt the grave is marked ‘Believed to be’ Gunner Clarkson.
Vera May re-married and became Vera May Hunt.
- Based on notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board